Aging on my terms - Daily musings in 500 words or so

I purchased my dream house in May 2006, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. Every thing about this place spoke to my soul. I truly felt as if I was “home” for the first time in a very long time.

The back yard was quiet and beautiful and I spent most of my summer days out in that yard or on the deck. Inside my house was decorated exactly how I wanted it. Everything was perfect.

I love this picture of my boys laughing and joking in my back yard

many days spent on that little deck

Everything was perfect

Except for the two house payments I had.

My ‘70’s house hadn’t sold and I had been carrying both house payments for almost a year. By the time 2007 rolled around I was wondering how I was going to be able to hold it all together.

And then there was the Tom issue. He was in agony because his faith strictly prohibited living “in sin”, by sleeping with someone outside of marriage, which is what we were doing.

He even proposed to me and for a second, we thought about getting married. But by Easter of 2007, things became clear that this wasn’t a relationship that would stand the test of time.

At his request, I’d joined him for a church service on Easter.

As I sat in the second row of an auditorium type church, staring up at the giant stage watching and listening to a reenactment of a scene from The Passion of the Christ, I couldn’t have felt more uncomfortable.

Everything about it made me want to jump out of my seat and run. As I glanced back at the closed doors of the entry, I felt panic that I would be trapped there forever.

I couldn’t wait to get out.

I knew this was the end of our relationship. Tom knew it too. He needed someone to believe the same things he believed. It was essential to his life. And I would never be that for him.

We wished each other well, and went our separate ways.

As my relationship came to an end, my real estate business was changing fast. I went from a six-figure income to bringing in just under $30,000 in 2007. My savings were gone because of making double house payments for over a year, and I was worried.

A terrible thing happens when you start to get behind on a house payment. I had a few months when my payments on my ‘70’s house were past the 15-day grace period. This prompted other banks to raise the interest rate on my credit cards to 39.5%.

Yes, you read that right.

Even though I was current on my credit card to Bank of America, they raised my interest rate so high; it was nearly impossible to pay any of the principal down. That’s when I realized Bank of America is not a bank of America.

I also found out that the reason my rate only went to 39.5% was because 40% is considered extortion. And that would be illegal.

I was being squeezed from all sides. And there was only one choice I could think of to make…